Yes son, you're going to 'be there' when we have the best adventures yet.

Since me and Hubbie met we have been on a lot of holidays together. In my family we didn't really do holidays as we didn't grow up with a lot of money so if they did save up enough to go away my parents would favour taking us to India to see family members. When I was older and working I earned enough to take holidays myself so I have enjoyed scuba diving in the Red Sea and skiing in France and Canada. I flew to Egypt on my own, which I never thought I'd do, but it was great actually. I've flown a fair bit, but it's always nerve wracking so I like to plan ahead and get lots of magazines, a bottle of water and music to listen to. It makes all the waiting around so much easier.  I've flown to Romania and Sierra Leone for work and was amazed to find that you could still smoke on the flight to Romania (it was over ten years ago though).

Hubbie didn't go abroad for holidays as a child as his family were not keen to go overseas - ironically as they love travel now - so when we met we both indulged our love of travel together. It is lovely sharing photos of our adventures with our son as it's like telling him the story of our relationship through the special times and experiences we've shared. He likes to hear about where we've been and what we've seen.

Our first baseball game was amazing

When we had been together for a little while we decided to go on a trip to the US and spent two weeks in California staying in San Francisco and taking in our first baseball game - Hubbie is a big fan and his obsession with the Giants began at this game. We also visited Alcatraz, as I was working with prisons this was a bit of a busman's holiday, but still it was interesting. Especially the sign welcoming indians - how nice of them.

We walked the Golden Gate Bridge 

Good to know :)

We then took a road trip along Highway 101 taking in the Atlantic Ocean and Santa Monica, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It was an epic trip for us and the best thing was that we spent 24 hours a day together and didn't fall out with each other once. I think we pretty much knew that we were compatible from this holiday on. My memories of this holiday are of driving along the ocean road listening to great music and being with a man who I loved spending time with.

Holidays have great memories for us and we like to mark occasions so while in Las Vegas Hubbie booked for us to go on a 'venetian gondola' for my birthday. I've never been to Venice so this was a very special treat indeed.

My first ever gondola trip in 'Venice' 

You see our holiday snaps are like a memory box of the significant moments and special milestones. as I mentioned I was a nervous flier and didn't enjoy flying anywhere, but would suffer it to get to the destination. Hubbie has a tactic that involves teasing that something genuinely is wrong with the plane that makes me forget my insane 'catastrophic thinking' and means I can go ahead an enjoy the holiday from the moment we are moving. Well, unless you're flying from Luton that is - nothing can make that a positive experience in my view ! The silver lining was that it was a surprise weekend break that Hubbie booked to Rome and while we were there he proposed ! It was just before the World Cup started as he says, he wanted to 'get it out of the way.' I know, what a gem eh ?

We just got engaged - yay !!

Well, I did marry him and both of us had wanted to go to New York for years so we booked a 6 day break for our honeymoon. It was late October so it was cold, but we visited all the touristy things, went up the Empire State building and even took a romantic carriage ride in Central Park with a driver who was pretending to be English until we said we were from London - then he became fiercely 'Noo Yawk' which was hilarious ! We flew into one airport and out of a different one - that was quite something with a 5am drop off on the way home. Still the holiday was worth it.

Central Park carriage ride

It was only a matter of time before we would visit India together and we planned it for ages to make the most of the long journey. As it was Hubbie's first trip he was incredibly patient with myriad relatives pawing him and commenting on how tall he was and marvelling, "Of course he's indian, he loves trains and loves indian food." I didn't have the heart to tell them that describes quite a lot of english people actually. Sharing my memories from childhood visits to India was magical and seeing how much Hubbie loved it was pretty special. The internal flights to get to far flung tourist locations was a revelation to me too - not least the snack boxes we were offered as compensation for flight delays :)

The Princess Diana pose 

So, there are memories of how me and Hubbie came to be Mr & Mrs and now we're creating new memories with junior. We've gone from this:

Supper Club in Amsterdam 

To this:

Watching the sea with my boy

Travelling as a family has been a completely different holiday experience for us, but no less fun. I was worried about flying with my son and he completely surprised me with his sense of adventure and willingness to go with the flow. In fact when we were disembarking the plane in Spain an older couple sitting across the aisle from us said they had no idea that there was a young child sitting with us as he'd been so good during the flight. I breathed a sigh of relief as my preparation had been so worthwhile.

From checking in Jiggles the bear with his own passport:

What a well travelled bear

To the fun of spotting all the other kids with Trunkis at the airport and comparing designs:

Hurry up Daddy !!

To keeping little man entertained on board the plane - thank goodness for tablets, headphones and seatbacks :) 

Keeping busy - and quiet

Finally visiting the cockpit and meeting the pilots - both there and back. Yes you can still do this and it's great fun for both little and big boys as I discovered ! 

Checking the charts

Proper steering 

We have graduated from holidaying as a couple to family vacations. We have some pretty great memories already, but my boy does look at these images and ask, 'where was I Mummy and Daddy ? Why couldn't I be there ?"

I want to be able to say, "Son, for the next big adventure we want to all be there." In two years it will be our tenth wedding anniversary and we want to take a trip to Hawaii to renew our wedding vows and learn to surf. To be able to celebrate our milestone anniversary and for our son to be there with us would be so special. I also have an ambition to put my feet in every ocean on the planet and so far I have managed the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic. Going to Hawaii I could tick off the Pacific from my list too.

With so many amazing memories already we are so very lucky. We hope to create many more memories that we can all be there for. Fingers crossed for Hawaii.

This post is an entry for the #Flying100 Family Holiday Challenge, celebrating how flying allows us to make memories and ‘be there’, in association with #Flying100. Find out more at http://bit.ly/flying100

Well, thank goodness that's all over !

Firstly Happy New Year !! I hope you've had a super Christmas and that your New Year Celebrations were enjoyable. I've been a bit quiet for the last few days as I've been pondering some things that I've learned from this holiday season (to get all american about it). I have also started planning next Christmas and New Year. If you think this is a bit keen you have to understand that I am not really a long term planner, but I'm not leaving it too late for a good reason.

In the past we've alternated visiting parents to make sure no one feels left out. Both my Mum and Hubbie's say they don't mind when we visit so long as they see us, so we decided that this year we would make sure that all the grandparents got to see our son on Christmas Day. We had to be especially organised about it so with a Travelodge booked for me and Hubbie on Christmas Eve the boy stayed with my parents and we collected him in the morning to go to the in-laws. I cried buckets watching the Snowman and the Snowdog and we had a lie in while my parents were treated to a 6am wake up call from the smallest snowman. We came to get him and he fell asleep on my shoulder so all the plans for him to sleep on the long drive to Granny and Grandpa's house were dashed. He was delightfully sociable in all settings though and entertained everyone and made me and Hubbie smile as he said "oooh" while opening all the lovely presents he received. We took him for a Boxing Day walk with Grandma to see the ponies in the New Forest and he was adorable. My son being so gorgeous and friendly made being with the family bearable. 

This is my guilty secret and I am going to share it with you: I don't do well with family gatherings. In my head they seem a good idea and I forsee a fun time for my son and for those we visit as they seem to enjoy spending time with him. What I don't factor in is that I don't really want to be there. Hubbie is the most patient man on the planet and he sees it coming from a mile off. The impatience on the morning before we leave to visit, the increasing stress levels and I am pathalogical by the time we leave the house. He knows it's going to happen so when I say "shall we visit my family this weekend, they haven't seen the boy for a few weeks," he looks at me to see if I'm being serious and then says, "if you like." He knows I don't like and I'm doing it so that my son has a relationship with his wider family. He also bears with my insanity when they come to visit us as I invite all the parents over twice a year. If we didn't host them they would only see each other when a family member gets married.

The highlights of the family visits this year included: 

- My father saying he didn't want the gifts I'd bought him before he'd even opened them. (Me saying I'd return any he didn't like was deemed 'rude' apparently)

- Father-in-law widening the conversation from his usual four topics ("why do people insist on having a dinner table in their kitchen ?", his sister & her husband, his medical ailments and Hubbie's weight) to include the Paralympics - he didn't approve of them. I took a large gulp from my mug of tea and went back to watching the TV. 

- My own mother telling me I'm a horrible person, I always have been and she should have told me years ago. (For the record she has told me many times over the years and I'm clearly stupid as well or I'd have learned by now not to be such a crashing disappointment and all round rubbish person). 

I will explain this personal horror a little further in case you think you misread that. On New Year's Day I called my parents to say "we're on our way" and my Mum launched into a tirade at me because I asked why she had changed the plans we had made for the day. I actually wanted to take my son to watch the New Year parade in London on New Year's Day, but I always visit my parents so I decided that it would be nice for them if they saw him and we'd take him to the parade next year instead. 

I was in tears when my son wandered in to the room where I was talking on the phone and said "Mummy sad." As you can imagine I then didn't want to go any more. I mentioned previously that Hubbie is actually a saint and thanks to him being a calm and patient man we did go. I kept myself to myself and as soon as it was polite to leave we came home again. 

So this is what is going to to happen in December 2013. Me, Hubbie and the boy are going to San Francisco for a Christmas holiday. They boys can go the home of the Giants and I can go skiing at Lake Tahoe. We have friends who live in San Francisco and we've been before so we know we like it there. I'll pop some cards in the post before we leave and tell the family that we won't be doing gifts this year as we're not going to be here. I get to spend the time with the people I love the most and I won't be tempted to make any obligation visits to anyone. 

That's my plan.

p.s. If you're a blogger who's in San Francisco send me some tips over the next year and help me plan my itinerary please.